I really need to start going through my university materials with more care. And sooner than on the day of the supposed exam. It took me a whole friggin' semester to realize that I would make a lot more sense of the stuff we are talking about in class if I went through the day's materials at home beforehand. Better late then never, I guess.

So, I'm off to study technical drawing now. With the shiny study aid stuff that I found on my school's home page. Yay.

Oh. My. God.

Second week of uni. Not bad, really. I feel so grown up, living in another city, doing things on my own, going to classes and studying determinants, limits, academic English, stuff like that. Awesome. Some more self discipline would be nice, though. A little more sleep, a little more study, a little less moping around and drinking.

I mean. We just had a party on Saturday, and yesterday me and Kristel decided to finish up one of the bottles of vodka that was left from then. With energy drink. Gosh. And the worst part is that we had enough to get a decent medium sized human of the female persuasion reasonably tipsy, but we didn't feel a thing. We're alcoholics. Well, almost. Not really, actually. But it's strange. (Well, actually it's not, seeing as we have spent the better part of the last summer drinking rum in excessive amounts, but... You know.)

Aaaaanyway. So then we did some homework. Kristel studied Latin (the joys of med school) while I solved my epic fail determinants; at some point we decided we'd had enough, and we began writing instead. FRPG-s for the win, yeah. Indeed. Especially when you write them for six hours straight and suddenly realize you have twenty minutes of sleep time before you have to get up and go to class.

Yay fucking yay. Everything was fine until the lecture started. God, it was boring. I mean - the subject itself was not, but since it was the first class of the year in the subject of Industrial Ecology, I did not really hear anything new or particularly shocking. CO2 emissions, blah blah, population growth, yeah yeah, the Aral Sea, yadda yadda. I knew all that in 9th grade.

Whatever.

Next up is linear algebra. Or whatever it's called in English. Hope that's going to be a little more intense, so I wouldn't have to fight sleep every minute of my time. Maybe I should have another coffee.

But really. I'm only complaining, because I'm annoyed with myself for the fail that was last night. Overall I am quite happy with the choice I made and the place I ended up in.

Yeah. And now to survive two more classes and go home to sleep. SLEEP. SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

This is the more or less final version of the speech I gave at the English Speaking Union International Public Speaking Competition in London on May 21. The judges for my heat said my speech was quite good overall and the delivery was superb (oh yes, ego-boosting, much), but it was a little too fact-based and the ending lacked a conclusion of what I had been talking about. I'm quite proud of it myself, mostly because it's the first speech I've ever written in my life. The competition gave me some invaluable experiences and helped me discover traits in me that I had not thought I possessed.

So, without further due, ( the speech.  )

 

Any kind of comments and/or criticism is more than welcome, even though I won't be doing any work on this particular speech anymore. This is just a goodbye.

My brother got a dog yesterday. It's an American Staffordshire terrier, it's name is Dest Acer Golden Phantom, but we call it Fanta, and it is the cutest thing ever. And it's a he.

Fanta is actually almost two years old. We got him for free - his last owner had to give him away because of a new member in the family who is allergic to dog hair. A sad situation, without a doubt, but I am sure we can give Fanta a good home. There is nothing in this dog that is not to love - he is the embodiment of canine affection and intelligence. Just this morning he learned how to open doors and dashed out with the supposed intent of accomanying my brother to work (he fixes cars - Fanta is crazy about riding in a car - lolz). He seems to have adapted nicely - my brother is already the boss and I seem to be the second in command. Fanta had a rough patch with my mother in the beginning, but that was probably because she approcahed him too fast - he was in a new, unknown enivronment and would have needed some time. They get along just fine now, though. Strangely enough Fanta's attitude towards her changed immediately after I and my bro had taken him out for a half an hour of play time.

The plan is for my brother to move to Finland to his girlfriend's place as soon as possible and if that ever happens he would take Fanta with him. That is not going to happen for at least a month, though, because of all the necessary vaccines and medicines and yadda yadda, so I can relax and enjoy some time with the dog. He really is the most lovable little guy. Even made me wonder if I should get one myself. I think I actually will, once Fanta is gone.

I'd post some pictures, but I cannot upload them from file at this moment, I don't have a Photobucket account, and I am not going to make one solely for the purpose of this post. But rest assured, I will post pictures. You have been warned.

An environmental activist group knows it is being successful in making its point when it is being followed, moled (might not really be a verb, but I like the way it sounds), and spied on.


www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/17/edf-greenpeace-environment

P.S. High school is almost over. For ever. Hallelujah! The past few weeks have completely drained me of any energy whatsoever, and I haven't had enough time to make up for all the sleep I've missed out on, because of our literature teacher's excellent time management skills. The nonexistent ones.

I think there's some kind of a "Make More Spiders" portal hidden somewhere in our toilet that keeps spitting them up on a daily basis. I swear, every night I see a new one sitting in another corner: just a couple of minutes ago I found another one of those evil little bastards RIGHT NEXT TO THE DOOR. WHICH I HAD JUST WALKED IN THROUGH. AND HAD TO WALK BACK OUT THROUGH AGAIN. THE HORROR.

I winced. Surprisingly, though, I lived to tell the tale. Maybe they don't want me dead at all (yet). Maybe they have a plan. Like the Cylons. But... That's even worse.

*shudders*

Spiderhating FTW.

I would run around and shit rainbows, but hoarmurath  is already doing that.

Still, awesome!

*luvs Hoar and throws general hugz around for everyone to have*